There are two tools you need to bring from the classroom to be able to collect the data for conductivity.
One of the two is the sensor that you place into the water (seen below), it is connected to a wire and a small black box is in the middle of that wire.
The second of the two tools you need is the the LabQuest that can be seen in the picture below. It is the monitor that takes the information from the sensor and displays it on the screen for us to be able to read
.
For this test there is nothing that needs to be done when you get back to the classroom. However you obviously will have to do something on site. You will have to first connect the sensor to the LabQuest. Once you have done that you will put the sensor down into the water and read the conductivity reading and record it. Once you have done that at that specific spot you should repeat that same process at two different locations in the same area.
Conductivity is a measure of the waters abililty to pass an electrical current. The conductivity of the water is result of the amount of dissolved solids in the water and/or the temperature of the water. Pure water does not have any conductivity so this tells us how much dissolved solids are in the water. Conductivity can be raised by certain compounds and lowered by others so it can tell us how good or how bad the water quality is.
The typical results of conductivity in rivers throughout the united states generally ranges from 50 to 1500 us/cm. However if the rivers is supporting a good mix of different types of fish the conductivity should generally be between 150 and 500 us/cm. If conductivity is not in that range it is most likely not suitable for sustaining the lives of fish or other macroinvertabrates.
There are two tools you need to bring from the classroom to be able to collect the data for conductivity.
One of the two is the sensor that you place into the water (seen below), it is connected to a wire and a small black box is in the middle of that wire.
The second of the two tools you need is the the LabQuest that can be seen in the picture below. It is the monitor that takes the information from the sensor and displays it on the screen for us to be able to read
.
For this test there is nothing that needs to be done when you get back to the classroom. However you obviously will have to do something on site. You will have to first connect the sensor to the LabQuest. Once you have done that you will put the sensor down into the water and read the conductivity reading and record it. Once you have done that at that specific spot you should repeat that same process at two different locations in the same area.
Conductivity is a measure of the waters abililty to pass an electrical current. The conductivity of the water is result of the amount of dissolved solids in the water and/or the temperature of the water. Pure water does not have any conductivity so this tells us how much dissolved solids are in the water. Conductivity can be raised by certain compounds and lowered by others so it can tell us how good or how bad the water quality is.
The typical results of conductivity in rivers throughout the united states generally ranges from 50 to 1500 us/cm. However if the rivers is supporting a good mix of different types of fish the conductivity should generally be between 150 and 500 us/cm. If conductivity is not in that range it is most likely not suitable for sustaining the lives of fish or other macroinvertabrates.
-Mitch, Sean, Cameron, Nick